‘Awarta, Beit Furik, Burin (Yitzhar), Huwwara, Za’tara (Tapuah), Thu 8.1.09, Afternoon
Natanya translating.
14.04 Kifal Hares. The gate is open and there are no soldiers next to the sentry tower.
14.07 Marda. Two gates open. Zeita as usual the gate is well and truly locked.
14.11 Za'tara.
From the west no cars waiting. In the parking lot a small bus with passengers is standing on the the side while a dog smells the belongings of the people. We did not stop. There were 13 cars in all from both directions.
In the parking lot at the turning to Beita, from the west of the road a border police jeep with 3 soldiers outside.
14.35. Beit Furik.
Cars pass without stopping. Days of the Messiah. From one of the reports of the last few days from Reikhan an old man with sunglasses on a white donkey passed the checkpoint. Maybe that was the Messiah and he was blind? We thought maybe there were no soldiers at all at the checkpoint but it seems that they saw us and began to check cars coming from Nablus and a line formed so we left hoping this would stop.
14.41 Awarta. 6 cars waiting to be checked.
14.42 Huwwara
From the direction of Awarta we counted 16 cars waiting to leave Nablus. Since the end of December cars have been allowed to enter without a permit but the cars leaving are checked and this takes time. And in that case it is not clear why pedestrians go through on foot as they could go through in their cars or in a small bus and would not have to be checked. The DCO representative , A., does not know the answer to this question. One of the answers is that the cars take longer to be checked than those on foot? The DCO representative says that 5 lanes are being planned for cars. One for those entering and the other 4 for those leaving Nablus. Maybe that way it will take less time for the cars to pass. Next to the car lane is an x-ray vehicle to check the parcels of the travelers.
We photographed so as to document for the lawyers where the area "not sterile" is where we are supposed to stand to watch and have attached the photograph. From this place it is impossible to see the side lane. The shed of the detainees was empty and the loudspeakers were not in use. Because of the examinations we did not see the usual students returning on a Thursday. While we were at the checkpoint less and less people came through and then the border policewomen came out of their protected booths and checked IDs and parcels outside while a soldier with a drawn weapon guarded them. We thought that we had got rid of the isolation cell and the booth to check women but we were wrong. The closed buildings have been moved to the new checkpoint on the western side near the checking area and next to the pedestrians coming out of the socalled humanitarian line. A photo is added. We got permission to look through the opening of the isolation cell which was empty and does not yet have a door or a roof. (If the observation of the checkpoint will be according to the orders we will not be able to know if anyone is in this cell and we certainly won't be able to speak to him or get any details. Today we "got permission" from the commander to look but even if the "sterile" order is rescinded there will still be a problem to get to the isolation).
We met two representatives of the church. One of them from Switzerland , P. is a Christian Palestinian from Jerusalem who is married to a Swiss. She speaks Arabic and could have been a member of Machsomwatch. She was horrified at the amount of fences at the new checkpoint. She said that in November she had read in a Swiss paper that Condolisa Reis had congratulated this new building.
She told us that on Tuesday the seller of the bagels had been beaten and kicked so badly (by the DCO representatives with the permission of Z. ) that he had to be taken to hospital and operated on.
We also heard that the settlers from Bracha are throwing stones daily and cursing the people of Burin who have no protection against them. There is a picture of the owner of a cart (in the net) which had been damaged by soldiers and thrown next to the fence three weeks ago and who was trying to fix it.
16.423 Burin.
At the turning to road 60, on the road leading to Huwwara where the checkpoint is, there are soldiers checking a car at the side of the road.
16.49 At the entrance to Beita, this time from the eastern side not far from the wholesale market stands a border police jeep on the width of the road.
At Huwwara is a man who stands and asks us "Why are children being killed" to which there is no answer. Our mouths and throats are bitter.
16.53 Za'tara. 13 cars waiting from the north,
16.57 Zeita. The gate is closed, the gate at Marda open, an Israeli van enters the village.
1404 כיפל חרס – שער פתוח, לא רואים חיילים ליד מגדל התצפית.
1407 מרדה– שני השערים פתוחים; זיתא – כרגיל שער סגור ומסוגר.
1411 זעטרה – מצד מערב אין המתנה, במגרש החניה מיניבוס כל נוסעיו עומדים בחוץ בשורה כלב מרחרח חפצי הנוסעיםלא עצרנו; מצד צפון (מכיוון שכם וחווארה) 2 עמדות בדיקה, 11 כלי רכב ממתינים לבדיקה.
1415 במגרש החניה בפניה לביתא, ממערב לכביש ג'יפ מג"ב, 3 חיילים בחוץ.
1435 בית פוריכ
כלי רכב עוברים מבלי לעצור. ימות משיח.. (באחד הדוחות מהימים האחרונים, מריחן, תואר איש זקן עם משקפי שמש רוכב על חמור לבן שעבר את המחסום) אולי המשיח הגיע והוא עיוור?כמעט חשבנו שאפילו אין כלל חיילים במחסום אבל הם כנראה ראו אותנו התחילו לבדוק רכבים שבאו משכם ונהיה תור, אז נסענו משם בתקווה שיחדלו.
1441 עורטא – 6 רכבים מסוגים שונים מחכים לבדיקה.
1442 מחסום חווארה
מכיוון עוורתא ספרנו 16 כלי רכב מחכים לבדיקה במסלול הרכבים היוצאים משכם. מסוף דצמבר מותר לרכבים להיכנס לשכם ולצאת ללא אישור, אולם הרכבים היוצאים משכם נבדקים וזה לוקח זמן. לא ברור אם כך מדוע הולכי הרגל עוברים במחסום – הרי היו יכולים לצאת ברכבם או במיניבוסים מהעיר ולא היו נדרשים לבדיקה במחסום. איש המת"ק אעסם לא יודע לענות על השאלה. אחת התשובות שבכל זאת ניתנו היא שזמן בדיקת הרכבים ארוכה מזמן בדיקת הולכי הרגל(?) איש המת"ק אומר שמתוכננים 5 מסלולים לכלי רכב : מסלול אחד לכניסת רכבים לשכם ו-4 ליוצאים משכם – אולי כך זמן בדיקת הרכבים יתקצר. ליד מסלולי הרכבים נמצא רכב רנגטן לבדיקת חפצי הנוסעים.צילמנו כתיעוד עבור עורכות הדין היכן הוא המקום ה'לא סטרילי' המותר לנו לצפייה. מהמקום הזה אי אפשר לראות כלל את התור הצדדי.
סככת המעוכבים היתה ריקה, לא היה שימוש ברמקולים. בגלל מבחנים באוניברסיטה לא ראינו סטודנטים, שכרגיל חוזרים ביום חמישי. ככל ששהינו במחסום הלך מספר העוברים בו והתמעט, אז יצאו חיילות המ.צ מתאיהן האטומים ובדקו תעודות וחפצים מחוץ לתאים, כשסמוך להן חייל מאבטח עם רובה שלוף.
חשבנו שנפרדנו מהצינוק ותא בידוק לנשים שהיו במחסום הישן – אך התבדינו. המבנים האטומים הועברו למחסום החדש והוצבו בצד מערב, בקרבה לעמדות הבדיקה וליד מעבר הולכי הרגל, שיוצאים לאחר בדיקה מהתור הצדדי הנקרא "הומניטרי". צילום עליון משמאל.
קיבלנו רשות להציץ בפתח הצינוק שהיה ריק ועדיין אין בו דלת וגם לא גג.
פגשנו שתי נציגות מהכנסיה המלווה – אחת מהן פ' הגיעה משוויץ, היא פלסטינית נוצריה מירושלים שנישאה לשוויצרי. היא דוברת ערבית והיתה יכולה להיות בקלות חברה במחסום watch.. הזדעזעה מכמות הגדרות במחסום החדש; אמרה שקראה בנובמבר בעיתון בשוויץ שקונדליסה רייס שיבחה את הבנייה החדשה של מחסום חווארה ..
מספרים לנו שביום שלישי קיבל מוכר הבייגלה מכות ובעיטות מלובשי מדים ומצבו היה כל כך גרוע שנלקח לבית חולים ועבר ניתוח . שמענו גם שמתנחלים מברכה נוהגים מדי יום לזרוק אבנים ולקלל את אנשי בורין, שהם חסרי אונים כנגדם. אולי כדאי לצייד אותם במצלמות כמו את כלואי רחוב השוהרה בחברון. 
בצילום משמאל: בעל העגלה, שניזוקה ע"י חיילים והושלכה ליד הגדר לפני שלושה שבועות, כשהוא מנסה לתקן אותה.
1642 בורין – בפנייה לכביש 60, על הכביש המוביל לחווארה היכן שהיה קיים מחסום. חיילים בודקים רכב בצד הדרך.
1649 בכניסה לביתא, הפעם מצד מזרח לא רחוק מהשוק הסיטונאי, ג'יפ מגב עומד לרוחב הכביש.בפלאפל בחווארה, עומד בחור בצד אומר "ל מ ה ה ו ר ג י ם י ל ד י ם"
אין תשובה
מר בפה
בגרון
1653 זעטרה – 13 כלי רכב ממתינים לבדיקה מצפון, 1657 זיתא – שער סגור כתמיד, מרדה שער פתוח, טנדר ישראלי לנכנס לכפר
'Awarta
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Awarta, an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, is located east of the Hawara checkpoint, at the junction of Roads 555 (which was forbidden for Palestinian traffic in this area) and the entrance road to Nablus. It was one of the four checkpoints that surrounded Nablus until 2009. We used to watch it at Huwwara shifts because it was the only one where goods could be transferred to and from Nablus, using the back-to-back method. It was operated by the army, from 06:00 to 20:00. Until 2009.
Ronit Dahan-RamatiJan-6-2026Awarta: Traffic jam on the way to Nablus
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Beit Furik checkpoint
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One of the three internal checkpoints that closed on the city of Nablus - Beit Furik to the east, Hawara to the south, Beit Iba to the west. The checkpoint is located at the junction of Roads 557 (an apartheid road that was forbidden for Palestinians), leading to the Itamar and Alon Morea settlements and Road 5487. The checkpoint was established in 2001 for pedestrians and vehicles; The opening hours were short and the transition was slow and very problematic.Allegedly, the checkpoint is intended to monitor the movement to and from Nablus of the residents of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, being the only opening outside their villages. Since May 2009 the checkpoint is open 24 hours a day, the military presence is limited, vehicles can pass through it without inspections, except for random inspections. (Updated April 2010)
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Burin (Yitzhar)
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Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
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Huwwara
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The Huwwara checkpoint is an internal checkpoint south of the city of Nablus, at the intersection of Roads 60 and 5077 (between the settlements of Bracha and Itamar). This checkpoint was one of the four permanent checkpoints that closed on Nablus (Beit Furik and Awarta checkpoints to the east and the Beit Iba checkpoint to the west). It was a pedestrian-only barrier. As MachsomWatch volunteers, we watched therre since 2001 two shifts a day - morning and noon, the thousands of Palestinians leaving Nablus and waiting for hours in queues to reach anywhere else in the West Bank, from the other side of the checkpoint the destination could only be reached by public transport. In early June 2009, as part of the easing of Palestinian traffic in the West Bank, the checkpoint was opened to vehicular traffic. The passage was free, with occasional military presence in the guard tower. Also, there were vehicle inspections from time to time. Since the massacre on 7.10.2023, the checkpoint has been closed to Palestinians.
On February 26, 2023, about 400 settlers attacked the town's residents for 5 hours and set fire to property, such as houses and cars. Disturbances occurred in response to a shooting of two Jewish residents of Har Bracha by a Palestinian Terrorist. The soldiers stationed in the town did not prevent the arson and rescued Palestinian families from their homes only after they were set on fire. No one was punished and Finance Minister Smotrich stated that "the State of Israel should wipe out Hawara." Left and center organizations organized solidarity demonstrations and support actions for the residents of Hawara.Hawara continued to be in the headlines in all the months that followed: more pogroms by the settlers, attacks by Palestinians and a massive presence of the army in the town. It amounted to a de facto curfew of commerce and life in the center of the city. On October 5, 2023, MK Zvi established a Sukkah in the center of Hawara and hundreds of settlers backed the army blocked the main road and held prayers in the heart of the town all night and the next day. On Saturday, October 7, 23 The "Swords of Iron" war began with an attack by Hamas on settlements surrounding Gaza in the face of a poor presence of the IDF. Much criticism has been made of the withdrawal of military forces from the area surrounding Gaza and their placement in the West Bank, and in the Hawara and Samaria region in particular, as a shield for the settlers who were taking over and rioting.
On November 12, 2023, the first section of the Hawara bypass road intended for Israeli traffic only was opened. In this way, the settlers can bypass the road that goes through the center of Hawara, which is the main artery for traffic from the Nablus area to Ramallah and the south of the West Bank. For the construction of the road, the Civil Administration expropriated 406 dunams of private land belonging to Palestinians from the nearby villages. The settlers are not satisfied with this at the moment, and demand to also travel through Hawara itself in order to demonstrate presence and control.(updated November 2023)
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Shoshi AnbarMay-18-2025Huwara: The old houses in Area C
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Za'tara (Tapuah)
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Za'tara (Tapuah) Za'tara is an internal checkpoint in the heart of the West Bank, at the intersection of Road 60 and Road 505 (Trans-Samaria), east of the Tapuah settlement. This checkpoint is the "border" marked by the IDF between the north and south of the West Bank, in accordance with the policy of separation between the two parts of the West Bank that has been in place since December 2005. At the Za'tara checkpoint, there are separate routes for Israelis and Palestinians. In the route for Israelis, there are no inspections and the route for Palestinians inspects. The queue lengthens and shortens suits. The checkpoint is open 24 hours a day. The checkpoint is partially staffed and the people who pass through it are checked at random.
Shoshi AnbarSep-27-2023Za'atra (Tapuah Intersection). Signs
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